Trump blasts 'short' Macron as 'a pain in the ass', hits out at Trudeau during closed-door White House meeting with UN ambassadors
President Donald Trump reportedly slammed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and called French President Emmanuel Macron "short" and "a pain in the ass". The president's remarks against the world leaders came days after a video of them seemingly gossiping about Trump at a NATO reception was released.
Trump is believed to have made the remarks to over a dozen United Nations ambassadors in a closed-door meeting at the White House earlier this month, The Daily Beast reported. The president brought up the viral video on two occasions during the meeting. He allegedly denigrated Trudeau and referred to the French leader as "short" while criticizing the latter for not doing enough in the Iran negotiations, three sources at the meeting told the outlet.
A video of Trudeau and Macron appearing to mock Trump and his lengthy press conferences at a NATO reception in Buckingham Palace went viral on December 3. Other leaders involved in the conversation included UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte. Trump, however, was not mentioned by his name during the conversation. Reports state that shortly after the video was released, Trump canceled his last press conference at the NATO summit and was later caught on tape calling Trudeau "two-faced".
The president, during the White House meeting, also called Macron a "pain in the ass", making some of the ambassadors in the room "visibly uncomfortable", the source added. The outlet reported that Trump's ramble lasted for several minutes and derailed an ongoing conversation about NATO countries contributing more money to security.
Days after the viral video's release, former chief of the Council of European Union, Donald Tusk, also took a swipe at Trump by tweeting a picture of himself holding two fingers like a gun into the back of the US president. The ex-EU chief's picture was reportedly taken at the G7 meeting in Canada last year and shows Trump, Tusk, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel in a frame, with Tusk pointing two fingers towards Trump's back. Trump and Tusk had a fraught relationship during the Brussels politician's term at the top of the EU.